Green Lantern #81

Funeral for a Hero

Ron März – Writer
Darryl Banks – Pencils
Romeo Tanghal – Inks
Pamela Rambo – Color
Chris Eliopoulos – Letters
Eddie Berganza – Associate
Kevin Dooley – Funeral Director

I suppose this is a rather solemn cover, but it doesn't really do much for me. I guess that's because I'm not a big Green Lantern fan. But I think they could have done something that was solemn and more inspiring, as well. Maybe a statue of Hal Jordan?

So apparently Hal Jordan's death at the end of Final Night was conclusive enough for all the heroes of Earth to hold a funeral for him. After all, he did go out as a hero, destroying the Sun-Eater and restoring the sun to its former glory. So the current Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, constructed a cathedral in Coast City and invited everyone who's anyone to attend.

Impulse sat on a row with Max Mercury, Jesse Quick, Wally West and Linda Park. Donna Troy, now retired from being a superhero, was there, but sadly, I couldn't spot any of the other New Titans Impulse used to hang with. Superboy was there with Superman and Steel, and Robin, who felt compelled to bring his bow staff to a funeral, was there with Batman and Nightwing. But Batman still can't forgive Hal for what he did during Zero Hour, so he withdrew himself from the crowd, forcing Nightwing and Robin to join him in the shadows. Impulse was well-behaved during the funeral, so he didn't really have a chance to interact with Superboy, Robin, or the Legion of Super-heroes.

Superman directed the proceedings, and the first people to speak were former Green Lanterns Guy Gardner and John Stewart. Black Canary then spoke on behalf of the late Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, who was good friends with Hal. Then Wally spoke on behalf of the late Barry Allen, who was also good friends with Hal. Carol Ferris, Hal's former girlfriend, gave a tearful address, then Kyle Rayner closed the ceremony. The original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, created a green flame to burn eternally for Hal. And Swamp Thing created a beautiful garden to surround a statue of Hal made by Kyle. Then, at the very end, Batman says he finally forgives Hal.

My digital copy of this comic also includes a new adventure of Hal Jordan, which is mostly a flashback to his origin, reprinting pages from 1960. It was pretty neat, but again, I'm more interested in the Flash family and Impulse, so I don't have a lot to say about this issue.

Next time, Impulse finally meets Robin in Robin Plus Impulse #1!